Rozwój społecznej działalności opiekuńczej na ziemiach polskich

Abstract

Poverty and distress have inseparably accompanied mankind since the very beginning of civilisation. In different epochs different measures were taken to counteract this problem. The attitudes of the ancient towards the poor differed, yet on the whole they were unfavourable. However, the Roman Empire saw certain attempts of the rulers to protect the poor, disabled and orphaned children. Regular help from society appeared in the Middle Ages with the spread of Christianity which treated helping one’s neighbour as a way to receive an eternal reward. On the territory of Poland, the institution which first developed such activity was the Catholic Church. Monastic orders looked after the sick, maintaining hospitals, which in those times offered shelter to those in need, rather than medical treatment. The rulers, on the other hand, limited themselves only to providing regulations to prevent excessive mendicity. Alms and the distribution of food were the simplest ways of providing help in those days. Unfortunately, these were only short term measures and they did not solve the problem of social exclusion as they did not eliminate the causes of poverty. Only in the 16th century did such thinkers as Andrzej Frycz Modrzewski voice their opinions that the most important thing was to create working conditions for the poor to enable them to subsist. Since that time, the value of work and activity of the poor has been emphasized in certain theoretical conceptions (Mary Richmond), as well as realised practically (Stanisław Staszic and the Society of Hrubieszow). In the 19th century, the traditional charity of the Middle Ages was replaced by philanthropy, whose character was more linked to economic questions. During the time of partitions, the economic factor was closely linked with the aim of preserving the Polish national identity and was pursued by the Catholic Church as well as by contemporary society.